FHM 12 and beyond wishlist

[Afroduck]

I would like to see a team all time history for playoffs I know that it is there for regular season, but I don't believe it is there for Playoffs.


Also not a big deal, but wouldn't mind see an Alumni list for Head Coachs

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by Tangerino

the frustrating part to me is the focus of developing leagues that i would argue a very very small portion of the playerbase is actually playing, im not trying to discredit any european fans or any europeans leagues but let's be real the main focus is the NHL even people that play those journeyman saves the eventual goal is to run an NHL team, now that being said, the NHL should be the most flushed out league, the fact that there are still so many issues with what is the primary league is very frustrating, instead of so many resources being used adding an in my opinion useless NCAA setup was just not necessary in the current stage of the game.. I understand it's definitely becoming bigger and more young talent is going to the NCAA but **** its for what 1-4 years and then what? they play 15-20 years in the NHL so that league should in theory be working pretty well no? but there are still SO MANY glaring issues with the NHL in FHM 11, I saw someone bring up earlier the trading, it's actually so stupid the way the AI works for trading when it comes to human controlled teams and the other AI teams, I saw someone bring up trading trade deadline loans for reasonable trades like 1st round pick and a prospect, meanwhile i offer my whole fkin team and 4 1st round picks and get a "ARE YOU CRAZY?" response.. thats been like that for idk... 4-5 versions of the game now? how are things like these not prioritized during development of the game? I'd honestly rather them take a whole year off and just do a roster update for fhm 11 and really focus on the big league for the next game, a 3d engine would greatly improve actually wanting to spend time watching the game, trust me I understand the development team is very small and have nowhere near the same assetts as OOTP and even comparing the two is silly but we are a decade into this game and I feel like it was at its best during FHM 1 - 5 its literally gotten worse over the years and its frustrating to sit down and try and enjoy the game.

While I can understand wanting more for leagues outside of the NHL, I have to disagree with the game getting worse since FHM 5. I've often gone back and played many of the old FHM's and the quality-of-life additions made since make the game much better. If people want to watch a game play out there's EA NHL. Hoping for 3D engine in FHM is a pipe dream.

[boscoJJ]

Automatic League evolution outside historical, at least in Leagues without Pro Rel

[mjcarr74]

Would love to see 3D !!

[evilwitchroommate]

for me, above all else, fhm12 should allow more control over custom games.

i want to be in better control of custom and historical games. assigning coaches to teams in a quicker manner, unlimited budgets, a more complete historical database with a few more minor leagues, historical data for leagues in other countries.

fhm10's custom league advanced editor was decent. fhm11 feels like a step backward. the ahl historical rosters aren't even usable for exhibitions, custom leagues, etc. which was the only thing that convinced me to buy it.

[renojedi]

As the only license this game has is NHL, please make the NHL game the priority. We should have all the rules of the NHL work (waivers is the one that comes to mind but there are others), the new CBA should be reflected next season like real life, the graphical interface should be worthy of the NHL, and the 2D simulator should accurately reflect what the tactics say they do so teams actually play differently (to include additional changes in the playoffs. I also should see a marked difference between an NHL game and an ECHL game in the simulator but I don't.

As far as fixes, it would be the same things I say every season:

- Both players names on the fighting penalty pop-up, not just one
- Players whose demands go down the longer they go unsigned
- An evolving salary cap
- More advanced stats
- IR and LTIR rules like the NHL (which are changing again)
- Hits should do more to alter a player's trajectory or stop them for a few seconds if it knocked them down and it would be nice if the player icon change color or there was a sound when a big hit happens so I know the difference between a body check, stick check, or players just bumping into each other

[Goalie39]

As we’re likely about a month away from the release of FHM 12, I wanted to share some feedback—especially regarding custom games. Some of these points may have been overlooked in previous versions, and I hope they’re easier to address for FHM 12.

I play both standard and custom modes. While the standard game works well, I run into significant issues with custom games. I’m sure I’m not the only one who wants to build a large custom world with 20+ leagues, but right now, it’s extremely difficult. It often gets so frustrating that I walk away from the game entirely. So, I’d like to offer some suggestions to improve the custom game experience for those of us who enjoy building expansive worlds.

1. Improved Tools for Building Large Custom Leagues

While it’s possible to add leagues after starting a game on July 1st, the process isn’t nearly as robust as using the original editor. For example, when adding a league after the start, the financial settings often default to major league values—even if the league is of a lower-level league (likely a bug). Having a better way to add leagues after the start would be ideal.

2. Better Support for College Leagues
I understand that college systems are complex in the standard game, but custom games need a simpler way to replicate college-style leagues. Ideally, we should be able to create leagues without drafts, with basic recruiting mechanics, and no financial systems. Right now, it’s extremely difficult to simulate college hockey. To make matters worse, when setting age limits (e.g., 18–24) for a custom league, the game still generates players outside that range, and there’s no easy fix.

3. Player Creation Should Respect Age Limits
In custom games, when you set minimum and maximum age limits for a league, the game should honor those settings during player creation. Currently, it doesn’t—players of all ages are added, making it a mess to sort out manually. This undermines the realism and control that custom leagues are supposed to offer.

4. Custom Schedules – Expand Functionality Like OOTP Baseball
While FHM currently allows for custom schedules, it’s not nearly as flexible or powerful as the system used in OOTP Baseball. In OOTP, you provide a framework rather than a fixed schedule. You define things like team numbers (instead of specific team names), start dates, and the day of the week the season begins. Each year, the game uses that framework to dynamically generate a schedule that is consistent in structure but unique in matchups, adapting to changes in league composition.

FHM’s current custom scheduling is static and doesn’t offer this level of flexibility. Adding a similar framework-based system would be a major improvement, especially for users building large or evolving custom worlds.

Final Thoughts
I personally feel that much of the development outside of the standard game has been focused on historical. While FHM10 introduced the ability to import standard leagues into custom games, this feature still isn’t working perfectly. For example, when importing junior leagues, they come in as pro leagues by default. To do it properly, you have to manually create a junior league with the correct structure and then import each team individually into that league. It’s extremely time-consuming and tedious.

This is just another example of the challenges I face when trying to build out a custom world. The tools are there, but they’re not refined enough to support large-scale custom setups efficiently.

Please make it easier to build large custom worlds. I’ve been with you since the first FHM release, and I love what the game has become. But for those of us who enjoy the creative side of building custom leagues, these improvements would make a huge difference.

[szczepam]

How about just simply having a game that is ready to go in the ramp up to the NHL season?

Year in and year out they couldn't possibly do a worse job of presenting the game in a way that would maximize sales. I stopped buying it 2 years ago and this will be my third. It was fun up through FHM 8, but the game is never out when the season starts and by the time they get around to it, I've moved on to other options.

Before the "then why are you here" questions... I am on here literally to see if the game is out, even as a presale, to purchase it. But, unsurprisingly, it isn't.

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by szczepam

How about just simply having a game that is ready to go in the ramp up to the NHL season?

Year in and year out they couldn't possibly do a worse job of presenting the game in a way that would maximize sales. I stopped buying it 2 years ago and this will be my third. It was fun up through FHM 8, but the game is never out when the season starts and by the time they get around to it, I've moved on to other options.

Before the "then why are you here" questions... I am on here literally to see if the game is out, even as a presale, to purchase it. But, unsurprisingly, it isn't.

Well, the NHL season doesn't start until Oct. 7. I agree it would be nice to have the game by opening day or even before. However, if the devs did that and the game was riddled with bugs and glitches people would complain. Hence the reason developers release the game was they see fit. Point being, no matter what there are going to be people that aren't happy.

[northjersey]

Originally Posted by Savoie45

Well, the NHL season doesn't start until Oct. 7. I agree it would be nice to have the game by opening day or even before. However, if the devs did that and the game was riddled with bugs and glitches people would complain. Hence the reason developers release the game was they see fit. Point being, no matter what there are going to be people that aren't happy.

minor change requested, but when you currently looks at what leagues/teams own a players rights, there are no rights listed for any NCAA teams. This should be added to the list, and then disappear once they graduate or get signed to a pro contract

[Tangerino]

Originally Posted by Savoie45

While I can understand wanting more for leagues outside of the NHL, I have to disagree with the game getting worse since FHM 5. I've often gone back and played many of the old FHM's and the quality-of-life additions made since make the game much better. If people want to watch a game play out there's EA NHL. Hoping for 3D engine in FHM is a pipe dream.

I understand your point of view, and I do agree the QOL additions are very nice to have but I just meant like the main engine components, it ran smoother, crashed less, players developed somewhat properly, coaches didn't put your best offensive player as a 2 way forward and cause him to never get any powerplay time, causing your team to be a league worse in PP %, of course I can coach the games and all but I have to be honest that isn't the fun part of the game for me, its called Franchise Hockey Manager not Franchise Hockey Coach, I want to manage and have the same kind of stats that other AI GMs and Coaches are doing, I could arguably have the top 5 in each Category, Forwards, Defense and Goalie and we will still be just under .500, this used to never happen.

Also I think you misunderstood, I don't want MORE leagues outside the NHL, I'd rather the NHL be completely flushed out and run at its absolute PEAK, rather then them spend countless hours and resources adding a College system into the game, I understand there are some people that enjoy it, but I really don't think its a majority of the player base, adding a whole new system in the game before the NHL is even fully fleshed out just seems like adding another problem into a somewhat frustrating mess... Now of course I am just nitpicking and it's just my opinion, hopefully I didn't come across as rude or anything as that is not my intention at all. Just a fan of the game who's purchased every single version since the game came out, and yeah I was younger so maybe that's what made the games more fun to me, but other than the QOL additions, it's a somewhat very frustrating experience, I still don't understand why it's not possible to set the draft lottery yourself if you're in commissioner mode, that alone would in my opinion be fairly simple to add no? instead we got a college system implemented... But I also understand I am playing Franchise Hockey Manager not NHL Hockey Manager.

[szczepam]

Originally Posted by Savoie45

Well, the NHL season doesn't start until Oct. 7. I agree it would be nice to have the game by opening day or even before. However, if the devs did that and the game was riddled with bugs and glitches people would complain. Hence the reason developers release the game was they see fit. Point being, no matter what there are going to be people that aren't happy.

They have no problem getting OOTP out 2 weeks before the season starts. They even do a presale early release to find and work on the early bugs.

Every game has bugs, we accept that. I don't imagine it's fair to think that this game will be a clean game since it's not ready yet - imagine the pressure that would put on them. It will have updates made throughout April like it always does, which is fine.

The point is that there is no reason to not have something ready to go by now. We know when the season will start, it wasn't sprung on us. And next year and beyond will start in September. If they ever want to grow this product to match OOTP, they will have to start doing things differently and start thinking bigger with it. Madden doesn't come out Oct 1. NHL 26 came out a week ago. The Show doesn't come out mid-April. OOTP doesn't come out mid-April. There is no reason this shouldn't already be out, let alone that it doesn't even have a hint of when it's going to come out.

[Colorado]

Originally Posted by szczepam

There is no reason this shouldn't already be out, let alone that it doesn't even have a hint of when it's going to come out.

I've made several fair but critical posts about certain aspects of FHM previously, but in fairness to them here, we know they're a small dev team, so what's the point them committing to a release date with a game they don't feel is ready or comfortable putting out?

If it ain't ready, it ain't ready. I'd rather that than them put out a release with game breaking bugs. I very much doubt any delays in releasing the game are because of complacency.

[3z4rivyirn]

Originally Posted by Colorado

I've made several fair but critical posts about certain aspects of FHM previously, but in fairness to them here, we know they're a small dev team, so what's the point them committing to a release date with a game they don't feel is ready or comfortable putting out?

If it ain't ready, it ain't ready. I'd rather that than them put out a release with game breaking bugs. I very much doubt any delays in releasing the game are because of complacency.

Agree that it can add extra pressure and it likely takes time away from more important tasks due to the team being so small however SOME communication should be considered the bare minimum. Even being conservative with it like "we're working on FHM12 and hoping to have it released before the end of October" and then if it release sooner great.

As it stands now, there is nothing even indicating a new version is coming. I could see someone coming here looking for information and leaving wondering if they're even planning to release a new version of the game which could lead to lost interest and potentially lost sales. At least some form of communication would put in their minds "ok, something is on the way so I'll check back in October".

And also, having that communication here on the forums where people are most likely going to check rather than other platforms. In the past there have been feature reveals / streaming showing the game - but it's on X so majority of people probably don't even see them. A simple forum post after one of those events that links to the video would be nice.

[#4BobbyOrr]

Originally Posted by Tangerino

coaches didn't put your best offensive player as a 2 way forward and cause him to never get any powerplay time, causing your team to be a league worse in PP %,

This is the biggest pet peave of mine. Well this and the fact that when using 4 forwards on the PP the forward stationed in a defensive position only produces about 1/4 of the amount they normally would.

I've seen saves where Crosby is left off the both Penguins PP units while Ponomarev is on the first unit because the former is set to counterattacking forward while the latter is set to playmaker. Ottawa frequently leaves Stutzle and Tkachuk off their top PP unit because they are set to counterattacking forward and grinder. Same with Barkov, Kopitar etc - the list goes on with poor special team AI choices.

[Savoie45]

Originally Posted by szczepam

They have no problem getting OOTP out 2 weeks before the season starts. They even do a presale early release to find and work on the early bugs.

Every game has bugs, we accept that. I don't imagine it's fair to think that this game will be a clean game since it's not ready yet - imagine the pressure that would put on them. It will have updates made throughout April like it always does, which is fine.

The point is that there is no reason to not have something ready to go by now. We know when the season will start, it wasn't sprung on us. And next year and beyond will start in September. If they ever want to grow this product to match OOTP, they will have to start doing things differently and start thinking bigger with it. Madden doesn't come out Oct 1. NHL 26 came out a week ago. The Show doesn't come out mid-April. OOTP doesn't come out mid-April. There is no reason this shouldn't already be out, let alone that it doesn't even have a hint of when it's going to come out.

The OOTP development team and the FHM team are not the same. Yes, they are under the same publishing umbrella, but how they operate is not the same. Saying just because OOTP does this or has this that FHM should is naive. They both have different budgets and different priorities. Lets please move on before they close this thread.

[Hawkeye21]

• Allow minor league teams to carry 3 goalies on their roster. It seems like most teams have at least 3
• Accurate AHL contracts (HFBoards Link)
• Accurate draft history (junior teams are missing from drafted players post-covid)
• Don't know how this works, but NCAA teams are now able to recruit former ECHL players

[NorthernForce]

My favourite thing about this game is the level of detail that's put into how accurate the prospect stats and potentials are. The best 14-15 year old players in real life are accurately portrayed here, which is really cool. Some draft/scouting things I would love to see.

-Make a bigger deal about talented prospects. Throw around the generation tag once in a while. More exceptional status players, and better highlighted when it happens.
-Messages about teenagers lighting up their league, or included in the scouting report. Getting a message about a 13 year lighting up their U16 league would be awesome.
-Players put on the shortlist disappear after switching team, maybe another list created to track players careers? For example, if I see some kids light up a youth tournament and want to follow their career, its not really easy to do right now.

-Include if they were top scorers at tournaments like the Hlinka-Gretzky or WJC
-More records kept. Expand on the leaderboards section to way more stuff
-The development tracker is just very stale, would love to see more up and downs included, and in specific stats.


I love this game and cant thank the developers enough for all their hard work. Cant wait for 12 to drop.

[NorthernForce]

Also, for the love of god, please bring back being able to scroll over players and see their attributes and stats in the trade screen again. Why is this available every where but not the place I need it most lol

[GMO123]

I would like the emphasis put on the player/mamager basics (e.g. correct, best players put on their best lines, 2D engine mirroring actual hockey with realistic plays, stats and player behaviour, better realistic tactics, more stats etc.) instead of adding more leagues and other changes that are more peripheral to the game ('bells and whistles').